Motor attachment for vehicles.



No. 860,603. PATENTED JULY 16, 1907.

E. HOPPER. I

MQTOR ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA PR.11{1907.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE 1- P-AT-ENTED JULY 16, 1907.

E. HOPPER. MOTOR ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11,1907.

avwpwlio'o I PATENTED JULY 16, 1907.

13. HOPPER. MOTOR ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11,19 07.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Wit use:

UNITED 1-sT TEs {PATE T OFFICE,

EMORY HOPPER, OF FAYETTE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF 'IO LEWISSTUBBLEFIELD,

on 'B'EECHEB. CITY, ILLINOIS.

To all whom it may concern:

United States, residing in the county of Fayette and State ofIllinois,-have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in MotorAttachments for Vehicles,

' .of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends an improved construction of motor attachmentfor buggies and other vehicles,

, and the invention has for its object an attachment of this characterwhich will be simple in construction,

light, durable, and efficientin'oper'ation, and one whichmay be easilyattached to'any conventional type of vehicle as a substitute for horsesso as to transform a buggy or the like into a self propelled vehicle.

The invention consistsessentially in a unicycle motor "driven attachmentadapted to be connected to the rear axle of an ordinary vehicle topropel the samejand the invention further consists in certainconstructions,

arrangements, and combinations of the parts which I shall hereinafterfully describe and" then point out the novel features in the appendedclaims.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof andalso to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the meansfor effecting the result, reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the application of my improvedmotor attachment for vehicles; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof withthe vehicle in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is a top plan View; and, Fig. 4 is adetail perspective view of the hand lever and the parts I which-itactuates.

Corresponding and like parts are referred in the following descriptionand indicatedin all the" views.

of the drawings by the same reference characters. 3

Referring to the drawings which illustrate a con-- ventional type ofbuggy to which my invention is apwork is adaptedto bei coupled to 'therear axle of the plied, l designates the body of the vehicle, 2- therear traveling wheels journaled on the rearaxle 3, 4 the front orsteering wheels on. the axle 5, and 6 the seat- My invention comprises asingle tractor wheel 7 preferablyof the tension spoke type, which isjournaled" on the axle 8 extending transversely-of the comparativelynarrow framework embodying spaced longitudinal bars 9 connected bycrossbars 9 The framevehicle at thejmiddle' thereof, so that the propellingwheel 7 may travel attire rear of the vehicle in the middle of theroad-,and end, the said bars 9 are'provided' with forwardly extendingand upwardly'facing hooksjll) adapted to'take under the rear axle 3 andbe detachably clamped thereto by means of spring clamps 11 connected thehooks and extending over the axle Specification of Letters Patent.Application filed April 11.11807- Serial No. 367,678.

I with. Inunrestrained condition, the belt 17 will run and adapted toengage withthe groove thereof. When disk 18 to bring the'vehicle to astandstill.

Patented July 16,1907.-

withtheir rear ends caught underneath laterally pro- Be it known that I,EMORY HQPPER, a citizen of the -,The motor maybe either an electricmotor, gasolene engine, or a prime mover of any character, a.conventionalform being shown for the'purpose of illustration only,designated 15.

- On the driving shaft of the motor is the drive pulley 16 which isconnected by the belt 17 with the grooved disk-18 secured to thepropulsion wheel 7 to turn therefree, but'it may beoperativelyconnecte'd to the grooved disk 18 by means of a groovedtension roller 19 journaled in the free end of the bracket20 that ispivotally connected to and extends upwardly from one of the side bars 13of the motor supporting framework. The bracket 20 is connected by meansof a rod 21 with a handle lever, 22, above the fulcrum point of thelatter,

so that by pulling rearwardly upon the hand lever 22 which is fulcrumedat convenient proximity to the driver's seat, the tension roller 19 maybe caused to :bear sufficiently against the belt 17 to effect a drivingconnection between the drive pulley, 16 and thc grooved disk 18, to turnthe propulsion'whecl 7 forwardly and cause a forward movement of thevehicle. A brake-rod 24 is; also connected'tothe hand lever-22 above-thefulcrum of the latter and passes at its rear end thi'ough asleeve-25projecting upwardly from one of the side bars 9." The-rear end of thebrake rod 24 carries a brake shoe 26 located at the rear of the disk 18the hand lever 22 is pushed forwardly, it will release the-tension oftheuroller 19 upon the belt 17 and permit the motor to run free, whileat the same time such forward movement will pull the brake rod 24forwardly and effect the brakingaiction otthe shoe 26 with the The handlever 22 is fulcrumed' at its lower end upon a rod 27 which extendsrearwardly from the lever and which is mounted to turn .about itslongitudinal axis in bearings 28 projected laterally from one of theside 10G bars 9. The rear end of the rod 27 car'ries a bearing brac'ket28 projecting both above and below the rod and formed at its=ends withttwo journal bearings inwhichthe substantially vertical shaft 30 isjournaled. Theshaft 30 carries an upper. pulley 3l and a lower pulley 32which are fast thereon and which are adapted 33 around which the draftclipped or otherwise sec'uredto the front axle 5 pref:

along any road where the vehicle itself could go, or

will be to connecting said framework with the rear axle of a vehicle,

to be alternately brought into frictional engagement with l I and amotor operatively' connected to said wheel.

the outer face of the disk 18 according as the hand lever 22 is pulledtowards the drivers seat to turn the rod 27, or away from the seat. Theshaft 30 also carries a drum cables 34 and 35 are adapted to wind, oneor the other, according to the direction in which the shaft 30 isturned. These cables are conheated at their front ends, respectively, tohooks 36 which'are in turn detachably engaged with hooks 37 a singlepropulsion wheeiadapt'ed to travel along the road, a'framework in whichsaid wheel is journaled, means'for connectingsaid framework with'therear axle of a vehicle, a single "traveling propulsion wheel journaledin said steering mechanism, and means for driving said steeringmechanism from the propulsion wheel. 7

3. The combination of a vehicle, of a supporting framework connected tothe rear axle thereof, a traveling pro i pulsion wheel'mounted in saidframework, a motor mount erably at the 1 0 Where the shafts or thlus areed on the frameworkf a disk secured to said wheel. and

y attached- Chainflr links 38 also: movable therewith, a belt connectingthe motor with the nected at their front ends to the hooks'37 andcohsaid disk, a hand lever, a su port the framework upon vergerearwardly and are both secured to the front end 122 3 22 23 53; giggggt t the d ver t o the 9 complresslon spnng The rear end of thlsSprmg vehicle, a i id means ogeraiivel :onnected to said hand connectedby means of ho to across bar 44 let er for controlling the drivingconnection between said which connects together the two -hooks10,-extending motor and said disk. from one to the other. i i 4. Thecombination with Th t i f th spring 39 i suchas t ll cured to the rearaxle thereof, a motor supported on said hold the front axle 5 straight.If it'be desired to turn fi'amework traveling propulsmn in Saidframeworkin the rear axle of the vehicle, a disk movable the vehlcle to the g thednvel' W111 p f hand with the propulsion wheel, and operativelyconnected with lever 22 away from the drivers seat 6 and this willmanifestly result in rotating the rod-27 in a direction to cause thelowermost pulley 32 to frictionally engage the face of the disk 18 andeffect the rotationof the shaft 30in a direction-to wind'up the righthand cable upon the drum 33 and turn the vehicle to the right.Conversely, if the driver draws the hand lever 22 towards the seat 6,the upper pulley 31 will frictionally engage the disk 18 and cause thevehicle to turn to the left. I From the foregoing description inconnection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I haveprovided a very simple, durable, light and efiicient construction ofmotor attachment for the ordinary 7 horse drawn vehicles, wlii'ch'willbe comparatively cheap to manufacture, and which i will, owing to'the'fact that only one propulsion wheel is employed at the middhe of therear axle of the vehicle, be able to travel nected to the front axle ofthe vehicle, a drum upon which said cables are adapted to which saiddrum is secured, friction pulleys secured on said shaft and adapted toaiternately engage the face of the disk whereby to turn the shaft other,a rocking support in which said shaft is'journaled, said supportincluding aforwardly extending rod mounted its longitudinal axis,- and ahand lever fulcrumed on said rod and adapted to thi n' the same.

5. The combination with a vehicle, of a propulsion de travelingpropulsion-wheel, and .a motor adapted to drive said wheel, afriction'disk movable with the propulsion wheel, a vertically extendingshaft, upper and lower tricshaft is journaled, a rod jonrnaled to turnabout its iongitudinal axis in the framework, and extending forwardlythereof, a hand lever connected to said rod and adapted to turn thesame, a drum mounted on said shaft, steering c8- bles adapted to wind onsaid drum and connected to the opposite ends of the front of verginglinks connected to the opposite ends of the axle, and a compressionspring connected to the attachment and to said links.

where a horse could draw it. As the propulsion means is of the unicycletype, that is, it employs a single traction wheel on which the attachingframework is balanced, it is evident that the weight of the motor someextent at least balanced by the weight of the vehicle, and that thecombined weight of the vehicle motor will cause the propulsion wheels 7to secure a firm non-sliding contact with the roadway by which'itspropelling power will be utilized to the best possible advantage. It isto be particularly noted that by my invention, a single hand lever'inclose proximity to the drivers seat, serves the manifold purpose ofsteering the vehiclo to the right or to the left, of controlling thedriving connection between the prime mover and the propulsion wheeland'of braking the propulsion wheel with the same movement by which theconnection between the prime mover andsaid wheel is renderedinoperativc.

nected to the rear axle, a traveling propulsion wheel joursupport onsaid the propulsion wheel to drive the same, means for controlling theoperative connection between said motor and the traveling wheel, saidmeans including a handlever, means for steering the vehicle, thesteering means being actuated from the propulsion wheel and includingthe same hand lever, and means for braking said braking means alsoincluding the same hand lever.

7. The combination with a vehicle, of a framework mounted in the rearthereof and embodying spaced 'side bars provided at their front endswith upwardly facing hooks adapted to take under the rear springssecured to said hooks and extending over the axle, the said, bars beingprovided with pins under which the said springs are adapted to be caughtwhereby to detach- -ably connect the framework to the rear axle, atraveling propulsion wheel journaled in said framework, a motor Havingthus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A unicycle attachment for vehicles, comprising a sin-' glc propulsionwheel. adapted to travel along the road,. a framcworkin which said wheelis journaled, means for nection with said propulsion wheel, and meansfor controlling such connection. I

8. The combination with mounted in the rear thereof and embodying spacedside barsprovided at their front 2. A unicycle motor attachment forvehicles,- comprising framework, a motor operatively connected to saidwheel,

in a position in advance of a vehicle, of a framework se-.

alternately wind, 9. shafton vice connected to the rear axle thereof andmounted in the rear of the vehicle, said propulsion device including athe vehicle, rearwardlycon- 6. The combination with a vehicle, of a'framework connaled in said framework in the rear of the vehicle, amotor:

framework and operativel'y connected to the propulsion wheel,

supported on said framework and having a driving cona vehicle, jot aframework ends with upwardly facingthe motor so as to. propel saidwheel, steering cables conin'one direction or the tionlpulleys carriedon said shaft, a bracket in which said axle of the vehicle,

hooksadapted to take under the rear axle of the vehicle,

springs secured to said hooks and extending over the axle,

the said bars being provided with pins, :1 motor supporting frameworkembodying side bars pivotally connected at their front ends to said pinsand having a spring connection at their rear ends with the rear ends ofthe first named side bars, and means for controlling the connectionbetween the motor and the propulsion wheel.

9. A motor attachment for vehicles comprising a supporting frameworkadapted to'be coupled to the rear axle of the vehicle and extendingrearwardly thereof, a traveling propulsion wheel journaled in saidframework, a disk mounted to move with the propulsion wheel, a motormounted on the framework, a belt connecting the motor shaft with theperiphery of the disk and normally running loose, a tension deviceadapted to operatively connect said shaft to the motor and disk, avertically extending shaft, upper and lower friction pulleys mounted onsaid shaft 31nd .adapted to be brought alternately into frictionalengagement with the outer face of said disk, a bracket in which saidvertical shaft is journaled, a rod mounted to turn about itslongitudinalaxis in said framework and ex-.

tending forwardly thereof, a drum mounted on the vertical' In testimonywhereof I afiixmy signature in presence. of two witnesses.

'EMORY HOPPER. r.. S.]

Witnesses:

CHAS. L. KANATZAR, L. A. MCTHOMPSON.

